SAN JOSE, Calif. - No good deed goes unpunished, and that seems to include people who virtuously reach for diet sodas instead of the calorie-laden good stuff. Before guzzling that artificially sweetened beverage in a haze of guilt-free carbonation, bear in mind that your diet soda may only be adding to your bottom line - or your waistline. At least that's the conclusion of a recently completed 12-year study. The study looked at 474 people, ages 65 to 74, and found that, on average, those who drank diet sodas ended up with waistlines that increased three times more than those who avoided them.

THE MOVIE THEATER industry made a scene - to put it mildly - when it looked as if the U.S. Food and Drug Administration might make theaters list the calorie counts in the tubs of popcorn they sell at exorbitant prices. As part of the Affordable Care Act, establishments with more than 20 locations - restaurants, convenience stores, groceries, even vending machines - will have to tell consumers the calorie counts of what they are buying. The sticker shock may persuade Americans to buy healthier foods, and restaurants to offer better choices.

Question: My husband of three years and I have finally gotten to where it is practical to try to start a family. We've known for a few years that I have a fertility problem that gets progressively worse each month, but we weren't ready so we decided to wait. I have given up everything I am supposed to including alcohol and caffeine, even caffeine-free diet soda at his request, and am taking dance classes twice a week to try to get to a healthier weight. I am active and only 15 pounds overweight.

Dating and diamonds. With these infinitely fascinating topics, how bad can How To Lose a Guy in 10 Days be? Not bad at all, actually. It's just that, despite a few clever insights and twists, it's neither good nor distinctive enough to rise above the level of generic romantic comedy. This, despite appealing performances by Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey. And despite a hilarious turn by Bebe Neuwirth as a venomous New York magazine editor, a viper with a black bob. The premise of the film recalls a joke made by that sage Rita Rudner.

NEW YORK - Want to super-size that soda? Sorry, but in New York City you could be out of luck. In his latest effort to fight obesity in this era of Big Gulps and triple bacon cheeseburgers, Mayor Michael Bloomberg is proposing an unprecedented ban on large servings of soda and other sugary drinks at restaurants, delis, sports arenas and movie theaters. Drinks would be limited to 16 ounces, which is considered a small at many fast-food joints. "The percentage of the population that is obese is skyrocketing," Bloomberg said Thursday on MSNBC.

Paul Rudnick, proud owner of two new Outer Critics Circle awards for his AIDS-inspired off-Broadway hit "Jeffrey," describes the kind of character that moved him to mock the dread plague: "Oh, you brought the wrong diet soda," he whines, mimicking a hospital martyr milking a bedside vigil to the max. "Not that robe; that's the ugly robe. I've read these magazines. " With "Jeffrey," Rudnick has pushed the PC envelope. He has made a fatal disease hilarious; he has accentuated the positive in HIV-positive; he has satirized the saturnalians who cruise the clubs, the gyms and even the memorial services of the dead.

A fat actor has written the latest best-selling diet book about how he shed excess blubber. If you are overweight, you might be tempted to buy it. Don't waste your money. Like many of the popular diet books - and there's always one on the best- seller lists - it's basically a rip-off. That's because the author tries to convince tubby people that they can lose weight while still enjoying tasty, delicious, yummy, satisfying meals. It can't be done. I've read all kinds of diet books because, like most self-indulgent Americans, I've spent much of my adult life overweight.

Andrew Golota fought Lennox Lewis for the heavyweight championship. Lasted 95 stupefied seconds. The national anthem lasted longer. Joe Hand Sr. was baffled. He had invested $750,000 for the closed-circuit television rights to the fight. He got mad, and then decided to get even. So he's suing Golota and the fight promoters and the doctor who jabbed Golota with lidocaine. "My complaint," Hand explained during a terrific lunch at Chickie's and Pete's Cafe, "is that I bought a heavyweight championship fight and I didn't get a fight.

What Ed Rendell wouldn't do to make a deal. He danced on a stage at the Hard Rock Cafe, spelling out Y-M-C-A with his body to the Village People song, at a bash for Democratic Party officials considering Philadelphia as a convention site. He posed with Mickey Mouse and Goofy in announcing a deal that included $25 million in tax breaks for a Disney entertainment center. And when McDonald's agreed last spring to open a regional headquarters in Philadelphia, Rendell starred in a promotional video announcing the deal.

Question: My husband of three years and I have finally gotten to where it is practical to try to start a family. We've known for a few years that I have a fertility problem that gets progressively worse each month, but we weren't ready so we decided to wait. I have given up everything I am supposed to including alcohol and caffeine, even caffeine-free diet soda at his request, and am taking dance classes twice a week to try to get to a healthier weight. I am active and only 15 pounds overweight.

NEW YORK - Want to super-size that soda? Sorry, but in New York City you could be out of luck. In his latest effort to fight obesity in this era of Big Gulps and triple bacon cheeseburgers, Mayor Michael Bloomberg is proposing an unprecedented ban on large servings of soda and other sugary drinks at restaurants, delis, sports arenas and movie theaters. Drinks would be limited to 16 ounces, which is considered a small at many fast-food joints. "The percentage of the population that is obese is skyrocketing," Bloomberg said Thursday on MSNBC.

SAN JOSE, Calif. - No good deed goes unpunished, and that seems to include people who virtuously reach for diet sodas instead of the calorie-laden good stuff. Before guzzling that artificially sweetened beverage in a haze of guilt-free carbonation, bear in mind that your diet soda may only be adding to your bottom line - or your waistline. At least that's the conclusion of a recently completed 12-year study. The study looked at 474 people, ages 65 to 74, and found that, on average, those who drank diet sodas ended up with waistlines that increased three times more than those who avoided them.

THE MOVIE THEATER industry made a scene - to put it mildly - when it looked as if the U.S. Food and Drug Administration might make theaters list the calorie counts in the tubs of popcorn they sell at exorbitant prices. As part of the Affordable Care Act, establishments with more than 20 locations - restaurants, convenience stores, groceries, even vending machines - will have to tell consumers the calorie counts of what they are buying. The sticker shock may persuade Americans to buy healthier foods, and restaurants to offer better choices.

It's amazing how the threat of a lawsuit and a litany of legislative bans can inspire a corporate change of heart. The country's top three soft-drink companies announced this week that they would start removing most non-diet Coke, Pepsi and iced-tea products from school vending machines. It's a positive step in the fight against childhood obesity. Ahead of the curve, Philadelphia public schools banned soda sales in mid-2004. New Jersey voted last year to phase out sugary drinks and fat-laden snacks by 2007.

Dating and diamonds. With these infinitely fascinating topics, how bad can How To Lose a Guy in 10 Days be? Not bad at all, actually. It's just that, despite a few clever insights and twists, it's neither good nor distinctive enough to rise above the level of generic romantic comedy. This, despite appealing performances by Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey. And despite a hilarious turn by Bebe Neuwirth as a venomous New York magazine editor, a viper with a black bob. The premise of the film recalls a joke made by that sage Rita Rudner.

Andrew Golota fought Lennox Lewis for the heavyweight championship. Lasted 95 stupefied seconds. The national anthem lasted longer. Joe Hand Sr. was baffled. He had invested $750,000 for the closed-circuit television rights to the fight. He got mad, and then decided to get even. So he's suing Golota and the fight promoters and the doctor who jabbed Golota with lidocaine. "My complaint," Hand explained during a terrific lunch at Chickie's and Pete's Cafe, "is that I bought a heavyweight championship fight and I didn't get a fight.

What Ed Rendell wouldn't do to make a deal. He danced on a stage at the Hard Rock Cafe, spelling out Y-M-C-A with his body to the Village People song, at a bash for Democratic Party officials considering Philadelphia as a convention site. He posed with Mickey Mouse and Goofy in announcing a deal that included $25 million in tax breaks for a Disney entertainment center. And when McDonald's agreed last spring to open a regional headquarters in Philadelphia, Rendell starred in a promotional video announcing the deal.

Paul Rudnick, proud owner of two new Outer Critics Circle awards for his AIDS-inspired off-Broadway hit "Jeffrey," describes the kind of character that moved him to mock the dread plague: "Oh, you brought the wrong diet soda," he whines, mimicking a hospital martyr milking a bedside vigil to the max. "Not that robe; that's the ugly robe. I've read these magazines. " With "Jeffrey," Rudnick has pushed the PC envelope. He has made a fatal disease hilarious; he has accentuated the positive in HIV-positive; he has satirized the saturnalians who cruise the clubs, the gyms and even the memorial services of the dead.

A fat actor has written the latest best-selling diet book about how he shed excess blubber. If you are overweight, you might be tempted to buy it. Don't waste your money. Like many of the popular diet books - and there's always one on the best- seller lists - it's basically a rip-off. That's because the author tries to convince tubby people that they can lose weight while still enjoying tasty, delicious, yummy, satisfying meals. It can't be done. I've read all kinds of diet books because, like most self-indulgent Americans, I've spent much of my adult life overweight.